7 

/9W 






So- 




jWrmorantrum. 



In the past few years interest in the Order and desire for informa- 
tion as to its Principles has hecome so great that the Secretary-General 
is daily in receipt of communications and inquiries as to whether the 
writers are eligible under the Rules. 

Proper answers often require several hours of patient and exhaustive 
research which it is not always in the power of the Secretary-General 
to give. 

It is, therefore, suggested that hereafter, members, when applied to, 
unless able to give the desired information, shall refer applicants to the 
Secretaries of the State Societies where their applications would have 
to be acted upon, if presented. 

The following are the names of the Secretaries : 

^^Massachusetts — David Greene Haskins, Jr., 

83 Devonshire Street, 
/ Boston, Mass. 

Rhode Island — Thomas Arnold Pence, (Assistant Secretary), 



o/ 



East Greenwich, R. I. 



Connecticut — Augustus White MerWiii, 



^r: 



Wilton, Fairfield Co., Conn. 

New York— William Linn Keese, 

Flatbush, Brooklyn, N. Y. 



New Jersey— William Chetwood Spencer, 

j Elizabeth, N. J. 

^Pennsylvania— Francis Marinus Caldwell, 

4811 Chester Aveuue, 

Philadelphia, Pa. 



>— r» • 



' 




Afs 



Maryland — Wilson Cary McHenry, 

Pikesville, Baltimore Co., Md. 



South Carolina — Daniel Elliott linger Smith, 

Charleston, S. C. 

n. 

At the Convention of Officers of the American Army in the Can- 
tonments on Hudson river, June 19th, 1783, the Institution, which had 
previously been agreed upon, was materially amended in several impor- 
tant particulars and it was resolved, as an amendment thereto, that 
" a diploma, on parchment, whereon shall be impressed the exact figures 
" of the Order and Medal, be given to each and every member." 

In the Meeting of the General Society presided over by His Ex- 
cellency, President-General Washington, held in Philadelphia, on May 
17th, 1784, the language of the diploma was agreed upon. 

The design therefor was executed under his direction by Brevet 
Major Pierre C. L'Enfant, Continental Corps of Engineers, and the 
plate was engraved in Paris in 1784 by J. J. Le Veau, the great 
Bank Note Engraver of France. 

Assessments were, thereafter, from time to time, usually made by 
the General Society upon the several State Societies to pay for diplomas 
and President-General Washington, as long as he lived, signed diplomas 
for Original, Honorary and Hereditary Members. 

As years went by but few Hereditary Members were admitted and, 
for nearly half a century, the affairs of the Order were administered by 
the Venerable .Revolutionary Members. 

It was then a difficult matter, in the absence of express companies 
or suitable postal facilities, to procure the signatures, from widely diver- 
gent localities, of the President-General and Secretary-General and then 
to transmit a diploma to a newly admitted member. 

As a consequence, the custom of issuing State Society Certificates 
of membership was, in several State Societies, inaugurated, although 
whoever is admitted in any State Society becomes, ipso facto, as de- 
clared in the Institution, a member of u One Society of Friends.'' 1 

In 1890, the original valuable diploma plate, which had become 
corroded, was restored to usefulness, and, on May 9th, 1890, the Gen- 
eral Society of the Cincinnati in Triennial Meeting convened, unani- 
mously adopted the following ordinance : 

" Be it Ordained by the General Society of the Cincinnati, That a 
" Diploma or Certificate of membership in the Society of the 
"Cincinnati shall be issued to any member of the Society who 
''may apply therefor, upon filing with the Secretary- General a 
" certificate signed by the President and Secretary of the State 
"Society wherein such member may be enrolled, certifying 
*'that such member has been duly and regularly admitted to 
"membership in that State Society. 



" Such Diploma shall be in the form prescribed by the 
M Ordinance of May 17th, 1784, and duly authenticated by the 
" President-General and Secretary-General, and shall after the 
" member's name, recite whom he represents, unless the mem- 
" ber has been admitted to honorary membership, in which 
"case, in place of such recital, there shall be endorsed on the 
"margin of such Diploma the words 'Honorary Member.' 

" Such Diploma shall be furnished by the Secretary-Gen- 
"eral at a uniform price as near as may be the average cost 
"of preparation and transmission of the same." 

The uniform average price of preparation and transmission of a 
Diploma has been fixed, by advice of the General Officers, at five dol- 
lars, and it is requested, that when application shall be made for a 
Diploma, the above specified amount be sent by Post Office money 
order to the Secretary-General, in addition to the required certificate 
of membership. Due account will be made by the Secretary-General to 
the Treasurer-General for all sums thus received. 

Members are desired, in their respective applications for Diplomas, 
to give their full names and State whom they represent, with full name, 
rank and regiment or corps. 

It is to be observed that the Ordinance of the General Society 
under the Institution in no way restricts or interferes with the issuance 
by any or all of the State Societies of certificates of membership to 
members enrolled therein. 

III. 

In September, 1894, a new monthly publication was issued under 
the title of " The Spirit of '70," which, in the publisher's announcement, 
claims to " be devoted mainly to the interest of the Society of the 
Cincinnati" and of certain patriotic associations. 

The attention of the Secretary-General having been officially invited 
to the leading article in that number (No. 1, September, 1894,) upon 
" The Society of the Cincinnati," in which there are several material 
errors, it is proper to say that this periodical is not an official publica- 
tion nor representative of the Cincinnati, but is in the language of its 
editor, " a commercial enterprise." 

IV. 

As it is desirable that the General Society, as well as State So- 
ciety liosters of members shall be accurately kept, members are, respect- 
fully, requested to notify the Secretary-General of changes of residence 
and also of any errors in printed Rosters of the General Society as to 
full names or post office directions. 



CtSecrt 



'ecretary-General's Office, 
October 11, 1894. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 710 946 P 



